WEEKEND EDITION • NOVEMBER 5, 2011 SUN NEWSPAPERS 11A

recruiter and business consultant. I’ve talked with and negotiated with all the top dogs. When it comes down to city negotiations (regarding leases) I will be a tyrant.

Patten: I’m the only candidate with a degree, a B.A. with Honors Society; more experience with city council; way longer histo-ry; much better knowledge of how city hall works.

Sherman: I have ex-perience on a city board

as chair of the Architec-tural Review Board and participated in the city’s Partnering 4 Success. The others don’t have that city board experience. They all come with an agenda. If I have an agenda, it’s to revamp the building department to be more user-friendly.

2. What do you think are the city’s top three pri-orities for the next year?

Anderson: Continue progress on the budget, clarify the role of our city attorney, finish the com-prehensive plan.

Lefebvre: Revenue, revenue, revenue. Attract

tourists in the summer-time so you don’t have to increase taxes or tap reserves further.

Patten: Hiring a city manager, city budget and Sharky’s lease compliance with Office of Inspector General, and the elephant in the living room — VPD and VFD pensions that are about to break the city’s back.

Sherman: Rebuild the building department, bal-ance the budget, stimulate small business.

3. Would you support cutting trash pickup from two days a week to one?

Anderson: No. Older

people don’t want to worry about carrying big bags and collectors will have heavier loads. There’s not enough savings to justify (the switch).

Lefebvre: Yes, if it will save money.

Patten: In support of looking into it as an op-tion, not sure it would actually save any money.

Sherman: Yes.4. Should the bypass be

widened to six lanes or improved at four lanes?

Anderson: I don’t know. I’d want more input, espe-cially from businesses.

Lefebvre: Neither. I like it just the way it is.

Patten: Possibly neither.Sherman: Neither. Busi-

nesses will be affected. I always thought Pinebrook Avenue should have been widened/extended. I just wouldn’t want to see any roundabouts.

5. What do you think of the idea of five council members?

Anderson: Seven. With vacations and absences, a five-member board could lead to quorums of three. That’s not good.

Lefebvre: Five.Patten: Only with

four-year terms and the removal of seat numbers.

Sherman: Seven.

6. What grade would you give city council for the year (A through F)?

Anderson: B. They’ve done a good job.

Lefebvre: B. Council has done a good job stop-ping the bleeding. I think you’ve got a good board up there right now.

Patten: D-. After the Sharky’s fiasco with the OIG claiming that the city is giving the airport away and the way the (former city manager) Isaac Turner situation was handled.

Sherman: C-. Good job, but too much micromanagement.

Email: ggiles@venicegondolier.com

as a workforce — not low-income — housing com-munity that working fami-lies could afford. It was to be walkable, green and somewhat self-contained — close to shopping and other amenities.

The land was purchased July 1, 2005, for $16.3 mil-lion from Mark I. Caith-ness. According to founda-tion CEO Teri Hansen, GCCF didn’t negotiate the price, it just stepped into a contract Caithness had negotiated with Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

Caithness had acquired the property — six parcels, actually — within less than a year of selling them: three parcels the previous December for $7,696,100 from Star Land Company LLC, a now-dissolved limited-liability corporation managed by SunTrust on behalf of two trusts; another parcel that December from Andrea Moorman, for $750,000; a fifth parcel for $675,000 in March 2005 from High-point Tower Technology Inc.; and the final parcel for $357,500 from Leland

Johnson. Total price: $9,478,600. The markup a few months later: $6,821,400.

The foundation’s vision may have been noble but its timing turned out to be faulty. After spending $7.2 million to make the project a reality, Hansen said, the board found itself in the middle of the housing bust and a huge inventory of available homes with few buy-ers and tight credit. The plug was pulled on The Bridges and the proper-ties are being held until their value returns. They are currently assessed at a total of $7,530,375 by the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office.

The foundation’s critics see The Bridges as a failure because the purchase took money that should have gone to grants. It was never in the plan that the foundation would go into the housing business, they say, and the decision to do so has left it with a hugely devalued asset on its books that likely will take years and years to get its value back. In the meantime, the foundation is still incurring expenses for interest, spending even more money that could

be given to community organizations.

But owning and dealing in land has always been part of the foundation’s articles of incorporation,

according to a response posted on its website. Community foundations are created to be around forever, Hansen said, so they take a longer view,

and The Bridges property — which is a potential site for a north/south East Venice Avenue/Laurel Road connector — will benefit future generations.

Besides, she said, the board that voted to make the purchase “were people elected by those very peo-ple who are complaining.”

Email: bmudge@venicegondolier.com

COUNCIL

LAND

FROM PAGE 1

employees, according to city records.

Slaughter later said he had a migraine headache and lay down underneath his desk as he was unable to drive home.

As for the abuse charges, Slaughter and the city de-clined to comment, citing

a separation agreement clause that prohibits either side from commenting on the matter.

Slaughter was accused of making inappropriate jokes and gestures that some found offensive, according to a report dated Oct. 11 and released Friday.

Previously Slaughter said some employees don’t appreciate his sense of hu-mor or managerial style.

He also moved staff around with some regular-ity, which was perceived by some as punishment. Slaughter said he was try-ing to get staff out of their comfort zone and routines to increase productivity. Others called it retribution.

He was in the chain of command that ordered a number of layoffs and reassignments, which is the subject of one pending grievance.

Personnel records show the trouble began about a year ago — approximately a year after Slaughter was promoted to a largely administrative position overseeing three depart-ments pummelled by personnel cuts in the past few years.

“I never had an interest in being an administrator,” Slaughter said Friday.

“I hope this opens up an opportunity to go back to

where my core strengths are — in urban planning and development.”

According to Alan Bullock, director of administrative services, Slaughter’s performance rated consistently well over his 13 years with the city. He was promoted from planning and zoning director in August 2009 to oversee the planning, code enforcement and build-ing departments after a

reorganization. He earned $106,620

annually.Slaughter will receive

six weeks’ severance, or $12,302.40, plus another $20,000 in accrued vaca-tion and sick leave.

On three occasions this year Slaughter donated sick leave time to his subordinates — 40 hours of sick leave to two em-ployees, and 20 hours to another.

RESIGNSFROM PAGE 1

be accessed only by foot or boat.

The forest is utilized “quite regularly” by area Boy Scout troops, Willa-ms said. At one location, there is a large round stone pit surrounded by benches — a fire circle —

that Scouts use. “The major job is to

keep vegetation cut back from trails and walk-ways,” Williams said of staff. It also means, he said, planting acres of land with pine trees for “harvesting down the road.” Williams said there have been two timber harvests already.

Visitors to the forest can encounter areas reminis-

cent of Old Florida. Along with the longleaf and slash pines, live oaks and sabal palms, there was the undergrowth of palmettos. There is no cypress within the forest, although it can be found in surrounding areas.

A retention pond be-hind the ranger station is home to an alligator, and various birds can be seen along the shore, resting

in the sun.“I saw bobcats, (and)

I saw coyotes,” Williams said of his experiences in the forest. “I haven’t seen panthers, (or) lizards (or) deer.”

He said he’s seen “lots of hogs” and snakes in the forest.

Williams said visitors to the forest will be “roughin’ it.”

“We don’t provide any-

thing (visitors) can do on their own,” he said.

Despite its primitive-ness, the forest does offer a half-dozen picnic sites, complete with a picnic table and a grill. One site especially for the handi-capped has a cement path that goes from the dirt road to the picnic area. The portable restrooms also are accessible by the handicapped.

Williams said he wants to encourage people to attend the celebration, calling it “an opportunity for those who’ve seen (the forest) before to see some-thing new.”

For those who have nev-er seen the Myakka State Forest, he said, “They’ll find out something in the area (where) they can enjoy nature.”

Email: csakowitz@sun-herald.com

FORESTSFROM PAGE 1

FROM PAGE 1

Holic accused Burrus of hijacking the process.

Council proceeded to draft its own JPA amendment.

Holic recently wrote to county commission-ers concerned again that Burrus’s continued

“intimate” involvement in negotiations regarding draft JPA language might be a tactic “meant to stall and/or completely break-down negotiations.”

County Commissioner

Nora Patterson re-sponded that Burrus was entitled to participate as a citizen. Burrus denied he was acting as a county planning commissioner.

“I have been acting

solely as a private citizen …” Burrus wrote to county commissioners in response to Holic’s letter. “I supported the Princ-eton Laurel annexation as well as the proposed

Publix shopping center as it has been presented to me for the past several years.”

Holic and Burrus plan to meet next week to clear the air.

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